1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera processor which successively carries out image exposing, developing, fixing, washing and drying, and, more particularly, to a film storage device in a camera processor in which a long film is successively subject to an exposure and development operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of systems have been proposed and implemented in which a photo-sensitive material, such as microfilm, is successively subjected to photographing and developing. In these systems, a photographing section and a developing section are provided adjacent to each other so that photographing, developing, fixing, washing and drying are performed successively. Since a film feeding speed during the photographing operation is generally different from a film feeding speed during the developing operation, various methods have been employed in order to carry out the photographing operation and the developing operation in succession.
According to one of these methods, a buffer chamber is provided between the photographing section and the developing section so that the exposed film is stored in the form of a loop within the chamber, and the difference between the feeding speed in the photographing section and that in the developing section is absorbed or adjusted by the buffer chamber. According to a second method, instead of providing a buffer chamber, a storage chamber is provided to store a certain amount of exposed film. When a predetermined amount of film is exposed and stored in the storage chamber, the film is cut, the photographing operation is stopped, and, subsequently, the stored film is developed.
The former method is advantageous in that the photographing and developing operations can be conducted simultaneously; however, it is disadvantageous in that, when looped, the film overlaps and rubs against adjacent film, thus generating static electricity. Additional disadvantages are that the film may be scratched, and an intricate means is required for adjusting the photographing speed according to the conditions of the loop.
In the second method, as in the first method, the film may rub against adjacent film when stored, thus generating static electricity and possibly scratching the film. As the practical size of the storage chamber is limited, the length of a film which can be stored is limited to several meters. Therefore, the length of a film which can be processed by this method is also limited.
According to a third method, an exposed film is wound on a reel in a storage chamber. It is then cut and fed to a developing unit by turning the reel in the opposite direction, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 43632/1981. In this method, the exposed film can be stored and developed without encountering the above-described problems. However, this latter method is disadvantageous in that, after the developing operation has begun, the next photographing operation cannot be carried out until all the film which is wound on the reel is fed out.
In a film storage device disclosed by Japanese Patent Application No. 146105/1981, two film winding reels are provided on the same surface of a rotary plate. The rotary plate is turned by a rotary shaft which is perpendicular to the rotary plate so that photographing and developing operations are carried out simultaneously for the two reels. However, this device suffers a drawback in that the film storage section is very bulky.